Assessing the inter-relationship between vegetation productivity, rainfall, population and land cover over the Bani River Basin in Mali

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Abstract

This research investigated the inter-relationship between vegetation productivity, measured using
the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), change in rainfall and population density in the context of
perceived greening and degradation trends over the Bani River Basin (BRB). A 30-year (1982-2011), 8-km
gridded rainfall data sets was produced by inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation of monthly data from
40 meteorological stations contained within the basin. Population data were retrieved from the National
Population Statistic data base for 1987, 1997, and 2009. Rainfall and NDVI time-series trends were computed
for the 30-year period and analysed. The relationship between rainfall and NDVI at pixel level, and NDVI and
population densities was analysed using a Pearson correlation. Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) conversion
rates were computed for the same period using multi-temporal 30-meter Landsat imagery; ground surveys for
selected areas within the basin were used for further cross-verification. The computed NDVI trends revealed
that, vegetation ‗greening‘ trends are mostly associated with areas where natural vegetation is still well
represented. Concurrent with increases in rainfall over the period analysed, this finding supports the hypothesis
that re-greening observed in that area is the result of multi-decadal fluctuations in climate, rather than improved
land management.

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Disclaimer:
MELSpace content providers and partners accept no liability to any consequence resulting from use of the content or data made available in this repository. Users of this content assume full responsibility for compliance with all relevant national or international regulations and legislation.